College Football: Mistakes cost NSU

September 07, 2008|By American News Sports Staff

WINONA, Minn. - Mistakes left points on the football field in Northern State's 39-14 loss to host Winona State Saturday. With chances to take the lead each time, NSU fumbled at the goal line in the first half and threw interceptions at the goal line and at the Winona 22 in the second half. Winona had the ball about 35 minutes in the 60-minute contest, tiring out the Wolves' defense. The Warriors also took advantage of five NSU turnovers. Despite all that, the Wolves trailed by only six points with nine minutes left in the game. Winona sealed the victory with a 10-play, 66-yard, 5 -minute touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Winona scored two more times at the end of the game as the result of an NSU fumble and an interception. “It was a heck of a game, but the final score didn't show it,” said Northern State coach Chris Boden. “It was a close game, but we beat ourselves with stupid little things that are correctable. We had our chances to win, but we blew it. That stuff comes back to haunt you against a good team, and Winona is a very good football team.” His team's penalties especially frustrated the Northern State coach. “If we don't make those penalties and back ourselves into a hole which forces us to throw, it could have been a totally different game. Our penalties cost us more than anything. We are a very good football team, but it is frustrating when we shoot ourselves in the foot with those penalties.” Boden said his team now has to rise to another challenge. “I told the guys you can't blame anyone. This is a whole team thing. I firmly believe we are well on our way to having a great year, but we just have to fight through this adversity. It is just a part of the game.” Both teams got off to a fast start. Winona opened the game by driving 66 yards in four plays for a touchdown. The Wolves answered with 68-yard, seven-play drive that ended with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Eric Ellingson to Tavis Ve'e. After that, points were hard to come by as defenses stiffened and offenses struggled to finish until the late fourth quarter flourish by the Warriors. Winona has now won nine games in a row against the Wolves. Since that time, Winona has gone 76-22 with seven playoff appearances and six conference titles. NSU has gone 42-48 in those same eight seasons. The last NSU win in the series with the Warriors came in a 37-34 win on Oct. 30, 1999, at Maxwell Stadium in Winona. The Wolves outscored Winona 13-7 in the fourth quarter to take the win on two Tefua Bloomfield touchdowns, the last of which came with 2:17 left in the game. Northern State and Winona State will continue play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference next week. The Wolves will host Upper Iowa at 1 p.m. Saturday at Swisher Field in Aberdeen in the annual benefit game for the Shriners. Winona will host its annual showdown with Bemidji at 1 p.m. Saturday as well. Northern State (0-2) 7 7 0 0-14 Winona State (1-1) 7 13 0 19-39 First Quarter WSU - Carey Rottman 18 run (Ryan Abbott kick), 13:31. NSU - Tavis Ve'e 25 pass from Eric Ellingson (Matt Kloss kick), 10:15. Second Quarter WSU - Andrew Verbancouer 1 run (Abbott kick), 14:57. WSU - Hakeem Bourne-McFarlane 8 pass from Greg Preston (kick failed), 4:23. NSU - Ve'e 59 run (Kloss kick), 2:46. Fourth Quarter WSU - Ellis Minor 7 pass from Preston (pass failed), 8:19. WSU - Randy Spring 11 run (Abbott kick), 6:31. WSU - Verbancouer 7 run (kick failed), 5:17. NSU WSU FirstdownsÉ15 27 Plays-NetYardsÉ56-340 78-525 Rushes-yardsÉ22-136 46-330 PassingÉ204 195 PuntReturnsÉ0-0 2-15 KickoffReturnsÉ7-108 2-43 InterceptionsRet.É1-15 3-21 Comp-Att-IntÉ22-34-3 21-32-1 PuntsÉ5-36.8 4-30.0 Fumbles-LostÉ2-2 2-1 Penalties-YardsÉ7-35 12-84 TimeofPossessionÉ25:08 34:52 3rd-Down ConversionsÉ3-12 8-14 4th-Down ConversionsÉ1-1 1-1 Red Zone ScoringÉ0-1 6-6 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING - NSU, Tavis Ve'e 14-108, Marty Ponzo 2-20; WSU, Randy Spring 28-188, Andrew Verbancouer 12-83, Carey Rottman 5-66. PASSING - NSU, Eric Ellingson 22-33-3 for 204, Ve'e 0-1-0; WSU, Greg Preston 21-30-0 for 195, Amir Ross 0-2-1. RECEIVING - NSU, Brian Jark 5-46, Tavis Ve'e 5-27, Marty Ponzo 4-26; WSU, Drew Alexander 5-20, Hakeem Bourne-McFarlane 3-53, Trevin Bune 3-28. DEFENSE - NSU, Anthony Ponzo 15 tackles, Josh Carpenter 10 tackles and 1 interception, Andrew Wanner 6 tackles and fumble recovery; WSU, Lucas Wolf 9 tackles and 1 sack, Brent Yule 8 tackles.